Patrick Ewing announces he has tested positive for COVID-19

[The Sultan]

You are correct, but I am old enough to remember the fear our parents had every summer when there were polio outbreaks. Not as deadly, but if you survived you could spend the rest of your life in an iron long or be severely crippled. I know, I had to friends that contracted the disease. The worse outbreak was in 1952 when there were nearly 58000 cases. Some towns were quarantined but the entire country was not shut down.

So just like now, where the entire county has never been, and will never be shut down.

[vogue65]

You are correct, but I am old enough to remember the fear our parents had every summer when there were polio outbreaks. Not as deadly, but if you survived you could spend the rest of your life in an iron long or be severely crippled. I know, I had to friends that contracted the disease. The worse outbreak was in 1952 when there were nearly 58000 cases. Some towns were quarantined but the entire country was not shut down.

Some people thought orange soda caused polio.
Swinning pools were suspect.
Now it's choirs, foursomes, and dirty hands. 

[Dr. Blackheart]

In your years on this earth (how many earths have you been on?)  there has never been a pandemic this deadly.  FACT.

False. AIDS, 36 million dead.

[muguru]

False. AIDS, 36 million dead.

Correct, and even then people weren't this fearful or weird as they are now. It's like they think the end of the world is coming and if we don't all just stay in our houses that death is a certainty. Just absolutely bizarre how edgy and terrified this has made people. It's actually in a strange way kind of amusing to watch.

[Uncle Rico]

Correct, and even then people weren't this fearful or weird as they are now. It's like they think the end of the world is coming and if we don't all just stay in our houses that death is a certainty. Just absolutely bizarre how edgy and terrified this has made people. It's actually in a strange way kind of amusing to watch.

Well, quite a few Americans pretended AIDS wasn't real or a problem for quite a few years

[The Sultan]

I mean, even at the height of the pandemic, it was fairly easy for most to live your daily life and not get infected with AIDS. Comparing the two isn't really appropriate.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

AIDS also can't be spread as easily as COVID. Different kinds of measures are necessary/appropriate

[The Sultan]

Correct, and even then people weren't this fearful or weird as they are now. It's like they think the end of the world is coming and if we don't all just stay in our houses that death is a certainty. Just absolutely bizarre how edgy and terrified this has made people. It's actually in a strange way kind of amusing to watch.

You are talking about very few who feel that way. Most just want to be cautious.

I'm glad others' fears amuse you. Totally on brand for you.

[brewcity77]

Correct, and even then people weren't this fearful or weird as they are now. It's like they think the end of the world is coming and if we don't all just stay in our houses that death is a certainty. Just absolutely bizarre how edgy and terrified this has made people. It's actually in a strange way kind of amusing to watch.

This perspective has to be coming from somewhere but I simply don't think it's true. I talk to a lot of people from a wide swath of perspectives and I haven't met anyone who's edgy or terrified. People are taking additional precautions, many would prefer not to go out because it isn't a necessity for them and they are cognizant of the risks, but I wouldn't describe any of them as terrified. Certainly not like they were in the first few weeks of this when I did see true fear in people's eyes.

That said, death is a certainty. I'd argue it's the only true certainty in life.

[Dr. Blackheart]

AIDS also can't be spread as easily as COVID. Different kinds of measures are necessary/appropriate

Having lived through it as a young adult it was absolutely terrifying. At this stage in time in the disease, there was no or little clue how it was spread. It was a death sentence, although hot spots were identified and a social stigma was soon attached. I was single at the time and happened to live in Boystown/Wrigleyville. We didn't know if you could get it in bars, off a glass, at church, on the bus. Dating was absolutely crimped. There was no test to start. Talking to someone at the bus stop was taboo. Famous people were infected so it was in the news constantly.

My wife to be worked in a medical ward at the time. Masks, gloves, gowns were not common practice. Untested blood for transfusions, needle sticks, not knowing if the patient you are treating had it. Waiting two weeks for test results when testing was developed and she was exposed. Marriage licenses required a test even.

To say this is different at the start is naive. Science is way ahead this time, and that's not saying much. It was a Scarlet Letter and its impact lasted years.

[Uncle Rico]

This perspective has to be coming from somewhere but I simply don't think it's true. I talk to a lot of people from a wide swath of perspectives and I haven't met anyone who's edgy or terrified. People are taking additional precautions, many would prefer not to go out because it isn't a necessity for them and they are cognizant of the risks, but I wouldn't describe any of them as terrified. Certainly not like they were in the first few weeks of this when I did see true fear in people's eyes.

That said, death is a certainty. I'd argue it's the only true certainty in life.

The crystal ball is a certainty, as well

[Newsdreams]

You are correct, but I am old enough to remember the fear our parents had every summer when there were polio outbreaks. Not as deadly, but if you survived you could spend the rest of your life in an iron long or be severely crippled. I know, I had to friends that contracted the disease. The worse outbreak was in 1952 when there were nearly 58000 cases. Some towns were quarantined but the entire country was not shut down.

It was not as easy or common to travel. Heck many people didn't leave their state. There will be 200k dead by August if no action had been taken it would had easily been 600-800k. This isn't over, obviously you can't go on panic mode, but for now can't put your guard now one has to be careful.

[Elonsmusk]

It doesn't take Patrick Ewing getting covid to know that social distancing in sports is going to be impossible. Unless you thought defenders needed to stay 6 feet off their man at all times.

Well, we've seen this in the not too distant past when Buzz and Wojo insisted on playing Derrick Wilson 30+ minutes. 

[Billy Hoyle]

False. AIDS, 36 million dead.

Yes, but until Magic got it AIDS was a "gay disease." Even the President at the time ignored it because it was viewed as only affecting the homosexual population. There were even pathetic rumors that Magic got it from homosexual activity.

Maybe I was too young at the time, but I don't remember wearing a condom to stop the spread becoming a partisan issue.

[wadesworld]

Well, we've seen this in the not too distant past when Buzz and Wojo insisted on playing Derrick Wilson 30+ minutes.

What?

[muguru]

This perspective has to be coming from somewhere but I simply don't think it's true. I talk to a lot of people from a wide swath of perspectives and I haven't met anyone who's edgy or terrified. People are taking additional precautions, many would prefer not to go out because it isn't a necessity for them and they are cognizant of the risks, but I wouldn't describe any of them as terrified. Certainly not like they were in the first few weeks of this when I did see true fear in people's eyes.

That said, death is a certainty. I'd argue it's the only true certainty in life.

I'm not necessarily saying they are terrified now, but at one point people WERE terrified, you said it yourself. I mean, let's be realistic here, we can do whatever we need to do to TRY to mitigate the risks(wear masks, gloves, stay home more etc), but the bottom line is, there is still no guarantee you won't get it. You could do absolutely everything right and people around you could do everything right and you could still get it whether it's from the grocery store, a church, anywhere you go.

Maybe one of the better analogies I can think of is with cancer...you can live the healthiest lifestyle there is, and there's still no guarantee you aren't going to get it at some point. Hopefully you don't, but even with the best precautions/doing everything right you can possibly do, it's still no certainty. The point is, if you get it, you get it and there's not much you can do about it, that's with any disease.

If you read some of the twitter comments that I have read during this, yes, there are actually people out there that are terrified, that think the world is coming to an end and getting Covid is an automatic death sentence.

The thing is, 5 or 10 years from now after we have gotten a vaccine for this(hopefully there will be one), people are STILL going to have this in the back of their minds and live differently because of it. To ME(and I don't speak for everyone), that's weird.

The doom and gloom and the terror people demonstrated through this is something I would more equate to if the USA suffered a nuclear attack and radiation was everywhere...now that would be a certain death sentence, and the downright fear people were demonstrating would be warranted.

[brewcity77]

100,000 dead in three months, it's not like those fears, especially for people who are immunocompromised, were unfounded.

[Loose Cannon]

Coach Ewing has had a rough stretch of events lately. Been ripped publicly by former teammates , all the transfers and his house got robbed. Hope he comes out of Covid healthy .

https://nypost.com/2020/05/22/georgetown-coach-knicks-legend-patrick-ewing-has-coronavirus/

Amen to that.

[#UnleashSean]

AIDS also can't be spread as easily as COVID. Different kinds of measures are necessary/appropriate

I'm not sure if you know the history behind aids, but in the early years this would be a great comparison to covid.

Even if the fears were eventually proven false.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Yes, but until Magic got it AIDS was a "gay disease." Even the President at the time ignored it because it was viewed as only affecting the homosexual population. There were even pathetic rumors that Magic got it from homosexual activity.

Maybe I was too young at the time, but I don't remember wearing a condom to stop the spread becoming a partisan issue.

Tell that to the continent of Africa. Nature knows no boundaries.

[Billy Hoyle]

I'm not sure if you know the history behind aids, but in the early years this would be a great comparison to covid.

Even if the fears were eventually proven false.

Not really. We knew how HIV was transmitted. If you weren't sexually promiscuous or gay (because we were taught it was a gay disease) you had nothing to worry about. I never worried about being affected by going to a restaurant or gym. Sure, there was the occasional Ryan White situation, but how many of us who were not engaging in high risk behavior were getting those?

[Shooter McGavin]

You are correct, but I am old enough to remember the fear our parents had every summer when there were polio outbreaks. Not as deadly, but if you survived you could spend the rest of your life in an iron long or be severely crippled. I know, I had to friends that contracted the disease. The worse outbreak was in 1952 when there were nearly 58000 cases. Some towns were quarantined but the entire country was not shut down.

To think there are absolute morons in this world who are anti vaccine is unbelievable.  If they were parents during the time you are referring to they would never have that stance.   

[Shooter McGavin]

AIDS also can't be spread as easily as COVID. Different kinds of measures are necessary/appropriate

Correct, very ignorant to compare HIV to Covid 19. 

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Correct, very ignorant to compare HIV to Covid 19.

I think the psyche comparison is fair game.  With AIDS there were so many unknowns. This time around we know more (not all) and it moved very quickly on a global basis due to transmissibility and our interconnected nature.  That perpetuates the fear. I think we learn a few things and get some advances on the treatment front and we start to move forward to some degree. 

Conversely I don't get the poo-poo attitude.  We know at this point that this is serious/grave—but not debilitating. 

[GooooMarquette]

In my years on this earth I have never seen anything that's brought out the paranoia and weird in people the way this pandemic has. Just...bizarre, really.

Unless you are old enough to have lived through either of the world wars or the Great Depression, the world has not seen anything as big as this pandemic during your lifetime.